Maraike Nicole Vandergrift

Research focus

• EU Border Politics
• EU Migration Policy
• Democratization
• Eastern Partnership
• German Foreign Policy
• EU Foreign Policy

PhD Topic

• Border policies of Eastern EU states: Interactions, Compliance & EU Integration

In recent years, the European Union has made significant strides in establishing uniform standards for the protection of its external borders. However, the actual implementation of these standards continues to exhibit substantial variance across EU Member States. While internal integration has deepened through the Single Market, the common currency, and the Schengen Area, recent geopolitical shifts—most notably the rise of autocratization in neighbouring states such as Belarus, Türkiye, and North African nations—have triggered a counter-process of rebordering at the EU’s external frontiers.

The primary objective of this study is to analyze the conditions under which Member States either implement or strategically contest EU border regulations. Central to this inquiry is whether the observed diversity in EU border policy can be explained by the complex interaction between exogenous pressures and endogenous factors.

To date, scholarship on border regimes has largely focused on the general evolution of the EU border regime since the eastward enlargement, often through the lens of high-level foreign and security policy. However, a significant research gap remains concerning systematic comparative studies on the actual implementation (compliance) of EU standards at the eastern external borders. In particular, there is a lack of research bridging the compliance gap between formal normative requirements and local, material border practices.

The empirical focus of this study is on Poland and Bulgaria. Both countries occupy strategic positions at the EU’s external perimeter, yet their border regimes are shaped by fundamentally different relations with neighbouring states—including Russia, Ukraine, Türkiye, and the Western Balkan countries. This study examines how these distinct contexts and national path dependencies lead to divergent patterns of (non-)compliance with European mandates.

Academic Conference Presentations

• "Border Policies of Eastern EU states: Interaction, Implementation and EU Integration", EUPeace Conference 2025: Advancing Justice, Peace and Inclusiveness in Times of AI. in Pilsen, Czechia, 22.-24.09.2025.
• "Border Policies of Eastern EU states. Presentation PhD Project", Berliner Methodentreffen, https://berliner-methodentreffen.de/ablauf-2025/, 24.-25.07.2025. 
• "Border Policies of Eastern EU states. Presentation PhD Project", 32nd Conference of junior scholars in the field of East European studies (32. Tagung Osteuropa-Expert*innen (JOE)), in Dresden, 3.-5.07.2025.
• "The EU’s Eastern Partnership within German Parliamentary Discourses – explaining a low level of Politicization" (with Andrea Gawrich), Conference paper for the Workshop “Common New Agendas in Turbulent International Environments – German & Polish Approaches towards the Eastern Partnership Region”, digital workshop, 18.03.2024.

Publications

• Vandergrift, Maraike; Gawrich, Andrea (2025): DIE ÖSTLICHE PARTNERSCHAFT DER EU IM SCHATTEN RUSSLANDS. In: Indes 13 (2-3), S. 55–65. DOI: 10.13109/inde.2025.13.2-3.55.

• Konrad, Lea; Vandergrift, Maraike; Gawrich, Andrea (2025): #FreeTheLeopards: Securitising Military Aid to Ukraine in German Politicians’ Social Media Posts. In: Z Außen Sicherheitspolit. DOI: 10.1007/s12399-025-01028-7.

Lectures

• "Grenzpolitiken Östlicher EU-Staaten: Spannungsfeld Außengrenze", Ringvorlesung Institut für Politikwissenschaft, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, 21.01.2026
• "Grenzpolitiken im europäischen Vergleich" Seminar WiSe 2025/6
• "Grenzpolitiken im europäischen Vergleich" Seminar SoSe 2025
• "From German Zivilmacht to Zeitenwende" (with Lea Konrad), Ringvorlesung Institut für Politikwissenschaft, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, 17.01.2024

Transfer of Academic Knowledge

• Public panel discussion: "Europa und die Osterweiterung: Eine Bilanz", at the invitation of the Hessische Landeszentrale für politische Bildung and in cooperation with the Kulturamt der Stadt Wetzlar, Europa-Union Lahn-Dill und Volkshochschule Wetzlar, Wetzlar, 03.05.2024. https://hlz.hessen.de/veranstaltungen/aktuelle-veranstaltungen/europa-und-die-osterweiterung-eine-bilanz-2024-05-03t000000z/